Why do some states transition, with foreign assistance, from “fragile” to “robust”? Scholars in state-building have argued that neotrusteeship is an effective strategy by which external organizations might build postconflict states. This article tests this hypothesis, and two related propositions, in a paired comparison of Kosovo and Timor-Leste. The two states are similar in many respects and both experienced regional peace enforcement operations to end violent conflict, followed by massive neotrusteeship operations. They have had divergent results, however, in postconflict state-building: while the state and economy are gradually becoming stronger in Timor-Leste, the same cannot be said of Kosovo, which continues to be plagued by high unemployment, low growth, corruption, and organized crime. I argue that many of Kosovo’s problems can be traced back to the strategy of dividing international responsibility for neotrusteeship operations.
AlbrightMadelene. 2003. Madam Secretary: A memoir. New York, NY: Miramax Books.
2.
Amnesty International. 2004. Kosovo: So does it mean that we have rights? Protecting the human rights of women and girls trafficked for forced prostitution in Kosovo. New York, NY: Amnesty International.
3.
BilefsyDan. 12June2013. Despite Kosovo pact, healing is far away. International Herald Tribune.
4.
ChestermanSimon. 2001. Just war or just peace? Humanitarian intervention and international law. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
5.
ChestermanSimon. 2004. You, the people: The United Nations, transitional administration and statebuilding. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
6.
ChopraJarat. 2000. The UN’s kingdom of East Timor. Survival42 (3): 27–33.
7.
ChopraJarat. 2002. Building state failure in East Timor. Development and Change33 (5): 979–1000.
8.
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). 2013. The World Factbook: Kosovo. Available from www.cia.gov.
9.
CliffeSarahRohlandClaus. 2003. Mission implementation: developing institutional capacities: The East Timor reconstruction program. In The United Nations transitional administration in East Timor: Debriefing lessons, eds. De Rham-AzimiNassrineChangLi Lin, 95–142. Leiden: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers.
10.
Commission of the European Communities. 2009. Commission decision of 2009 on annual program for Kosovo (under UNSCR 1244/99). Brussels: European Union.
11.
DeeMoreen. 2001. Coalitions of the willing and humanitarian intervention: Australia’s involvement with INTERFET. International Peacekeeping8 (3): 1–20.
12.
DoyleMichael W.SambanisNicholas. 2006. Making war and building peace: United Nations peace operations. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
13.
DunnJames. 2003. East Timor: A rough passage to independence. Longueville, Australia: Longueville Books.
14.
EideKai. 2005. A comprehensive review of the situation in Kosovo. Report on behalf of the UN Secretary-General, submitted to the President of the UN Security Council, S/2005/635. New York, NY: United Nations.
15.
European Commission. 2012. Feasibility study for a stabilization and association agreement between the European Union and Kosovo. Brussels: European Union.
16.
FearonJamesLaitinDavid. 2004. Neotrusteeship and the problem of weak states. International Security28 (4): 7–42.
17.
FortnaV. Page. 2008. Does peacekeeping work? Shaping belligerents’ choices after civil war. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
18.
FortnaV. PageHowardLise M.2008. Pitfalls and prospects in the peacekeeping literature. Annual Review of Political Science11:283–301.
19.
GeorgeAlexander L.BennettAndrew. 2005. Case studies and theory development in the social sciences. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
20.
GerringJohn. 2007. Case study research: Principles and practices. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
21.
HeadJonathan. 31December2012. East Timor: UN ends peacekeeping mission. BBC News.
22.
HowardLise M.2008. UN peacekeeping in civil wars. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
23.
HowardLise M.2012. The ethnocracy trap. Journal of Democracy23 (4): 155–69.
24.
HowardLise M.2013. Statebuilding through neotrusteeship: Kosovo and East Timor in comparative perspective. WIDER Working Paper 2013/126, UNU/WIDER, Helsinki.
25.
HuntLuke. 20February2013. East Timor risks all in oil dispute. The Diplomat.
26.
IngramSue. 2003. Missions implementation: Developing institutional capacities. In The United Nations transitional administration in East Timor: Debriefing lessons, eds. De Rham-AzimiNassrineChangLi Lin, 85–94. Leiden: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers.
27.
International Crisis Group (ICG). 2010. The rule of law in independent Kosovo. Europe Report (204). Brussels: ICG.
28.
ICG. 2013a. Serbia and Kosovo: The path to normalisation. Europe Report (223). Brussels: ICG.
29.
ICG. 2013b. Timor-Leste: Stability at what cost? Asia Report (246). Brussels: ICG.
30.
Jane’s Sentinel. 8April2009. Country risk assessment: Kosovo/economy. Englewood, CO: Information Handling Services.
31.
JolliffeJill. 2000. Foreword. In The crossing: A story of East Timor, ed. CardosoLuis, i–xviii. London: Granta Books.
32.
KapilaMukesh. 2003. Setting-up of UNTAET: Post-UNAMET planning, drafting resolutions and finance. In The United Nations transitional administration in East Timor: Debriefing lessons, eds. De Rham-AzimiNassrineChangLi Lin, 61–64. Leiden: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers.
33.
KiernanBen. 2003. The demography of genocide in Southeast Asia: The death tolls in Cambodia, 1975–79, and East Timor, 1975–80. Critical Asian Studies35 (4): 585–97.
34.
KingIainMasonWhit. 2006. Peace at any price: How the world failed Kosovo. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
35.
Lemay-HebertNicolas. 2011. The “empty-shell” approach: The setup process of international administrations in Timor-Leste and Kosovo, its consequences and lessons. International Studies Perspectives12 (2): 188–209.
36.
Lemay-HebertNicolas. 2012. Coerced transitions in Timor-Leste and Kosovo: Managing competing objectives of institution-building and local empowerment. Democratization19 (3): 465–85.
37.
MalcolmNoel. 1998. Kosovo: A short history. New York, NY: New York University Press.
38.
MartinIanMayer-RieckhAlexander. 2005. The United Nations and East Timor: From self-determination to state-building. International Peacekeeping12 (1): 125–45.
39.
MillJohn Stuart. 1843. A system of logic: Ratiocinative and inductive. New York, NY: Harper.
40.
O’NeillWilliam. 2002. Kosovo: An unfinished peace. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner.
41.
SchleicherElisabeth. 2012. Positive peace in Kosovo: A dream unfulfilled. Berlin: Peter Lang.
42.
SimpsonBrad. 2004. Solidarity in an age of globalization: The transnational movement for East Timor and US foreign policy. Peace and Change29 (3–4): 453–83.
43.
SmithMichaelDeeMoreen. 2003. Peacekeeping in East Timor: The path to independence. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner.
44.
SuhrkeAstri. 2001. Peacekeepers as nation-builders: Dilemmas of the UN in East Timor. International Peacekeeping8 (4): 10–13.
45.
TanseyOisen. 2009. Regime-building: Democratization and international administration. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
46.
TarrowSydney. 2010. The strategy of paired comparison: Toward a theory of practice. Comparative Political Studies43 (2): 239–46.
47.
TerrallBen. 2003. The UN in East Timor: Lessons for Iraq?Radical Society30 (3–4): 80–81.
48.
United Nations Development Program (UNDP). 2012. Kosovo human development report 2012. Pristina, Kosovo: UNDP.
49.
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). 2000. The Kosovo refugee crisis. Geneva: UNHCR.
50.
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). 2008. Crime and its impact on the Balkans and affected countries. Vienna: UNODC.
United Nations Security Council. 2002. Report of the Secretary-General on the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor, S/2002/432, April17. Available from http://www.un.org/docs/sc/reports/2002/sgrep02.htm.
53.
VachudovaMilada. 2009. Democratization in post-Communist Europe: Illiberal regimes and the leverage of the European Union. In Democracy and authoritarianism in the post-Communist world, eds. BunceValerieMcFaulMichaelStoner-WeissKathryn, 82–106. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
54.
Vieira de MelloSergio. 2003. Introductory remarks and keynote address. In The United Nations transitional administration in East Timor: Debriefing and lessons, eds. De Rham-AzimiNassrineChangLi Lin, 15–24. Leiden: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers.
55.
WalterBarbara. 2002. Committing to peace: The successful settlement of civil wars. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
56.
WoehrelSteven. 2013. Kosovo: Current issues and US policy. Washington, DC: Congressional Research Services.
57.
World Bank. 2012. The World Bank in Kosovo: Active contributions since 1999. Washington, DC: World Bank.
58.
World Bank. 2013a. Timor Leste: Overview. Washington, DC: World Bank.
59.
World Bank. 2013b. World Bank group report on Kosovo, 2012. Washington, DC: World Bank.
60.
YannisAlexandros. 2004. The UN as government in Kosovo. Global Governance10 (1): 67–81.
